1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a camera having a locking function for locking a rotary operation dial to be operated rotationally, such as a mode setting dial, relative to a rotational predetermined position, and particularly aims at improving its operationality.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, a camera employs rotary operation dials such as a mode setting dial, shutter speed setting dial, and exposure compensation value setting dial so that the selection among a plurality of setting information can be operated at the same section. In such an arrangement, when a rotary operation dial is rotated by an accidental force to result in a switching of the photographing mode, there may be brought an unintended result, which can be a cause of trouble in a worse case.
In consideration of the above-described points, there has conventionally been known an arrangement that a push button is provided next to a rotary operation dial in the same plane, and that a lock spring is moved downward through the push button to release a lock lever fitted into a groove formed in the lower face of the rotary operation dial (refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2003-75898 for example).
However in accordance with the arrangement according to the foregoing patent document, the push button for releasing the lock lever is provided next to the rotary operation dial in the same plane, and the rotary operation dial is required to be operated while pressing the push button in the same plane, which naturally requires two-hand control, resulting in poor operationality. There has particularly been a problem that in the case of a small digital camera, it is difficult to hold the camera body, and therefore two-hand control in the same plane is extremely inconvenient.